Thursday, October 21, 2010

Brittney is no longer accepting suggestions; thanks to everyone who provided input, she greatly appreciates your recommendations and ideas. Her thesis will be post when it becomes available.

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Dear citizens of Rosedale and Capitol Hill,

My name is Brittany Lovejoy and I am a senior VT Landscape Architecture student working on my thesis project that deals with recycling underutilized lots into public parks. My goal is to create a design scheme for more sustainable, livable, and walkable green space system for the Rosedale and Capitol Hill neighborhoods. These spaces will be designed for YOU, so I am hoping to get many ideas of what the residents WANT to see happen to these green spaces in their neighborhood. Some opportunities these vacant sites offer are potential community gardens, farmers markets, stormwater management sites, community gathering spaces, local art exhibits, urban tree farming demonstrations, memorial placemakers, children's park, picnic area, etc.

The above picture shows the specific sites I am considering. The design of these sites will provide a demonstration of how these vacant and underutilized sites can be used to create a sustainable open green system for the community. My goal is to address issues of storm water management, green infrastructure, and outdoor community interaction. Many cities have adopted a program that encourages builders who are sitting on vacant property to create a temporary public use of this space (usually in the form of a park) and in return provide incentives such as tax breaks or building permit extensions. With that idea in mind, my plan will introduce this concept to this neighborhood and it will consist of three prototype "parks" or green spaces:

1. "Permanent Park"- City owned property such as the triangle parks

2. "Temporary Park"- Interim use of privately owned vacant lots until development can occur

3. "Temporary Use turned Permanent Park"- Based off the idea that once a community takes ownership of a "temporary park", the city would then recognize this site as an essential piece of land in the green infrastructure of the community and gain ownership of the property for permanent park use. Although it is much more difficult to obtain private land for a permanent park use, with a solid plan for development and community support backing up the idea, it is a possibility.

In order to make this not just a student project but a more realistic opportunity, I hope to get some input, feedback, and ideas from the residents on what types of activities they would like to see take place on these sites. Any information would be greatly appreciated to get a clear understanding of YOUR wants and needs for public green space.

Existing Conditions Pictures that Correspond to Site Map:

Site #4

Site #5

Site #9

Site #13

Site #16

Additionally:

All park documentation that I produce such as site plans, sections, perspectives, and proposals will be released to the Rosedale Citizens' Alliance after the conclusion of my thesis in hopes that these community driven designs could be used in the future to access funds and potentially turn the ideas on paper into reality.

I understand it may be hard to see how a student project could be made into something real, so I wanted to add this note to show that although this is just a student project now, it could become reality in the future. In a previous studio project, my class provided individual proposals to a committee of the Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va, for a church plaza and childcare playground. Our proposals were used in the final design of the site, and the project was built last Spring. HERE is an article that helps explain how our student design assistance was vital in creating this space.

Thank you for your time and I am excited to hear your ideas! If you would like to personally contact me with any additional information or questions, please feel free to email me.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Greater Greater Washington and BeyondDC built a great map called "Washington's Unbuilt Hoghways". It was created using the 1958 Basic Freeway Plan map. Clearly you can see planners' intent to use East Capitol Street (east of the Anacostia River) and Constitution Ave and Independence Ave (west of the Anacostia River), originally B Streets NE and SE, respectively, as a thruway. Though the "Washington's Unbuilt Hoghways" shows Constitution Ave, Independence Ave and a segment of C Street as unbuilt highways, one can argue that C Street NE from 21st to 16th Street was, in fact, built. And, even though the full vision of the at-grade highway thankfully was not completed, commuters and commercial trucks use the east-west route daily as if it had been built.

1958 Basic Freeway Plan Map

Washington's Unbuilt Hoghways Map

These maps help validate our assumptions to why just 6 blocks of residential C Street NE look, smell, taste and function as a regional commuter and commercial truck corridor.

Thankfully most of the infrastructure wasn't built. Now, it is time to start deconstructing these ill-planned and oppressive commuter and commercial routes that cut-through the greater Capitol Hill community. Here are some cost-effective ideas on how to justify such an endeavor.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Regional commuter and commercial traffic, it is the why C Street currently looks, smells, tastes and functions like a freeway.

So, why does 6 blocks of residential street look and act as a pass-through commuter freeway?

There are two probable reasons:

1. Automobile Thoroughfare - 50+ years ago, DDOT probably intended and planned to move vast amounts of regional traffic through the heart of the Capitol Hill neighborhood by building a large surface-level thoroughfare from the Whitney-Young Memorial bridge to downtown. But fortunately, somewhere along the way, this was never completely realized.

2. RFK Memorial Stadium - back in 1961 when it was built, attendees' primary mode of transportation was the automobile. So, accommodating the personal vehicle was the primary goal of supporting transportation infrastructure. Remember, the Stadium-Armory Metrorail Station did not open until 1977.

Until now, these antiquated policies and practices jeopardized residents' health and safety and divided and eroded the neighborhood fabric and connectivity.

The C Street Project is at a critical cross-roads in how we as a community and DC Government envision the future role of C Street NE. With major transportation infrastructure investments, like the 11th Street Bridge Project and Benning RD/H Street Streetcar Line soon debuting around 2012 or 2013, the Capitol Hill community has a unique opportunity to regain lost ground inadvertently given to regional cut-through commuter and commercial vehicle traffic over the last 50+ years.

We have the chance to vastly improve residents' and visitors' health, safety and quality of life by righting a long standing wrong - putting out-of-District commuters and commercial motorists' priorities above residents' quality of life. DDOT's antiquated policies and engineering practices appear to "have to still apply" to C Street. However, in most other parts of the city, DDOT has embraced innovative designs and employed cutting-edge practices/technologies to reprioritize street for residents and non-motorized users with much support, success and acclaim.

We can and should apply the same vision for C Street and the Greater Capitol Hill community.

Great! But what do we do with all the commuter and commercial vehicles that use C Street, East Capitol Street and the subsequent Capitol Hill community street grid as a path of least resistance to move in and out of downtown and connect between DC-295 and southeast/Southwest Freeway?

First the problem, it's two-fold: 1) southbound DC-295 commuter and commercial traffic exits onto East Capitol St heading west on East Capitol St. and C St. and; 2) westbound East Capitol St (east of the Anacostia River) commuter and commercial traffic heading west can only continue westbound into and through Capitol Hill using either East Capitol St or C St. (this traffic has no option to exit onto DC-295)

Now for potential solutions. Inevitably, we as a community, are going to have to put up with some cut-through traffic, but we should think of low cost alternatives which can quickly be implemented using existing, and near future, infrastructure to alleviate the community burden, for instance:

With vehicular traffic moving at an average 30mph (this is a conservative speed), it would take a motorist 4 minutes to traverse the 2 mile alternative route from East Capitol St at the DC-295 underpass (Detour 2 Begin) to entering DC-295 south (Detour 1 & 2 End)

2. Minimizes commercial trucks & motor-coaches cut-through traffic - posted signs would require commercial trucks & motor-coaches to use the alternative route to access downtown and point south of the city via the 11th Street Bridge.

Based on multiple discussions with DDOT throughout the CSTNE Project process, there are some within DDOT who are hesitant on a proposal to reduce C Street west-bound lanes because vehicular traffic might back up for a short time-period (during peak morning rush-hour) onto the bridge which could be a safety hazard. DDOT is concerned emergency response vehicles, responding to an event on the bridge, might have difficulty accessing it due to traffic congestion.

There are two simple solutions:

1. Alternative route - as described above, the alternative route can alleviate any potential back up on to the bridge.

2. Create shoulders - to accommodate emergency vehicles, west- and east-bound lanes could be restriped. There appears to be enough bridge width (approx. 42ft) to reduce each travel lane width to 10ft, remove one narrow shoulder and create a 10ft wide shoulder lane.

2. Provide clear and concise wayfinding signs and electronic displays to direct commuter, commercial and tourist motorists to use principle arterials and freeways to directly access downtown and points south of the city without cutting through neighborhoods.

This program could be expanded and better advertised to make it an advantageous and appealing alternative for commuters rather then battling downtown traffic and paying higher parking rates.

4. Provide Commuter Parking for Cyclist and Streetcar Users

Streetcars - since the first phase of the H Street/Benning Road Streetcar Line ends at the intersection of Oklahoma Ave and the North RFK Stadium parking lot is always vacant during the week, why not create incentives for commuters to use the streetcar. Considering potential parking fees and ridership fares, the community, DC Government and commuter all stand to benefit.

Bicycles - considering the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail and hopefully cycle-tracks along C Street and North Carolina Ave from 21st St to 14th St, cyclists could park for free, access their bicycle from secured storage stalls and cycle to Capitol Hill or downtown.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Sharee Lawler, with The Hill Is Home, did a great job covering last night's ANC6A T&PS Committee meeting which hosted a CSTNE Corridor presentation on the 3 design concepts by DDOT's project contractor Toole Design Group.

Residents are evaluating three options for a community-led project to reconstruct C Street NE as a safer and more environmentally friendly thoroughfare.

The designs will be presented at a public meeting April 19. The project’s managers said they hope to begin construction in 2012.

An initiative five years in the making, the project began when residents started speaking out about dangerous conditions on C Street NE from the East Capitol Street Bridge to roughly 14th Street.

“Primarily, this is a quality-of-life project,” said Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commissioner (ANC 6A) Bill Schultheiss, who also works for Toole Design Group, the firm engineering the construction.

The corridor is unique: Two lanes come off of the East Capitol Bridge and immediately feed into a five-lane section on C Street that becomes seven lanes with parking.

Police data has shown that cars typically come off the highway onto C Street at 55 mph, well above the 40 mph limit on the bridge and 25 mph limit on C Street. The speeding contributes not only to dangerous conditions for pedestrians and bikers, but also noise problems, Schultheiss said.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sgt. Mark Robinson, there were 13,246 westbound vehicular speeding citations in the area — an average of 23 per day — between December 2007 and June 2009. Police are currently monitoring the eastbound side.

The purpose of the street’s redesign, Schultheiss said, is to make drivers aware that they’re entering a school zone and a residential neighborhood.

All of the design options would shrink the width of the currently 90-foot-wide street, cutting it nearly in half in hopes of creating a safer bicycling environment and more space for greenery in the medians.

The project also aims to make other green improvements — building surfaces like sidewalks out of permeable materials; creating areas to catch stormwater; and planting sustainable, low-maintenance greenery.

“We saw that we’d be able to introduce innovative and interesting green elements that I’d seen on the West Coast. The city was excited about that,” Schultheiss said.

Schultheiss jumped on board as the project’s manager along with community activist Ken Granata, a 36-year-old engineer and D.C. native who has lived at C Street and 17th Place for six years.

“The scope of the project became much more than we ever anticipated, which is nice,” Granata said.After witnessing traffic issues and hearing residents’ complaints, Granata decided five years ago to engage the D.C. Department of Transportation and community groups. He began blogging about traffic on C Street in June 2006, creating “CSTNE Project” in 2008.

The site outlines the project from beginning to end, and displays all proposed alternative designs, as well as information on the resident-run workshops that led to the options.

“The goal from the beginning was to have residents in the neighborhood and greater Capitol Hill community reconsider what C Street is for,” Granata said.

Residents involved in the workshops have since narrowed down the options for the street to three possible designs. One plan will be chosen by consensus and presented to the Transportation Department, which will get the final say.

The first design option eliminates bike lanes and removes one eastbound lane; the second uses parking lanes as morning rush hour driving lanes and narrows the street by 10 more feet. A third option would permanently eliminate a travel lane, allowing full-time parking there.

Granata said the project was planned without a budget in mind.

“From the beginning, DDOT, Toole Design Group, and the community all said, ‘Let’s not put any constraints on money. Let’s go big, let’s go bold and push it in every way possible — the ultimate — and go from there,’” Granata said.

But Schultheiss said the city’s 2012 capital improvements budget allocates money for the construction. An official from the Transportation Department said the project is budgeted for $6 million, but that figure is “more of a placeholder.”

The above article was extracted, in its entirety, from the Voice of the Hill website.

If we as a community could only convince DDOT to see the same opportunity in C Street NE (and East Capitol Street), we could all really move forward and make substantial quality-of-life, health and safety gains for the Greater Capitol Hill Community (GCHC).

But, DDOT is reluctant and is holding a death grip around the need to move thousands of commuter and commercial vehicles through the GCHC neighborhood street grid because, "the Whitney-Young Memorial Bridge (East Capitol Street) is one of the few bridges to cross the Anacostia River and has the motor-vehicle capacity" (paraphrase from multiple staff in DDOT).

So, there is no reason to consider other strategies or plans to correct a long standing transportation mistake which is a big problem for our community? Every problem has a solution(s). Sometimes the means is multifaceted and multi-phased, but the end still can be achieved, with both residents and commuters benefiting.

Rob also gave well deserved kudos to Ward 6 Transportation Planner Jamie Henson who is DDOT's project manager for the C Street Study and Conceptual Design. Jamie truly has made the process transparent and accessible for the community. Not only has he included innovative safety, environment and mobility design elements into the project, he has most importantly, allowed the process to be community driven. It has been a wonderful experience thus far, thank you Jamie!

HERE is the audio link to the yesterday's show, Rob's call is at time count 18:37 into the show.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

At the February 20, 2010 CSTNE Workshop, Toole Design Group presented 5 conceptual design alternatives. All 5 alternatives were laid out and Bill Schultheiss, project manager, presented each of the alternative's potential pros and cons to the workshop participants. Since a couple of the alternatives were similar to one another, the workshop group was able to decide 3 out of 5 of the alternatives were worth pursuing as a potential preferred design. The preferred design will be selected, by the community, later this year. Once selected, Toole Design Group will take the design to about 30% construction plan completion and then hand it over to DDOT.

Existing Condition

Conceptual Design A

Conceptual Design B

Conceptual Design C

You can view, in detail, each of the the 3 conceptual design alternatives, in their entirety, through on GGW's, "Plans envision "green street" for C Street, NE", by clicking on each image, about midway within the post. There also is an existing condition layout available too.

Soon, CSTNE will upload each of the 3 design concept layouts for those interested in studying, referencing and/or commenting.

Please let us now which concept (A, B or C) you prefer and elements you like, dislike or don't see and would like included!

One again a huge thanks to David Alpert of GGW for continuing to cover the CSTNE Project, the exposure is greatly appreciated!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

What: The second workshop in a series of 4 scheduled meetings (two stakeholder workshops and two public meetings).

Bill Schultheiss, Project Manager, Toole Design Group, will present 4 conceptual designs. The workshop group will discuss and vote on a preferred conceptual design based on pedestrian/student/cyclist safety, environmental benefits, improvement to residents' quality of life, community connectivity and potential traffic impact. Bill will also review the next steps for the project.

Project Overview:DDOT has begun a transportation and environmental study of the C Street and North Carolina Avenue corridor from 21st St. to 14th St., NE. The study is a result of community requests for safety and environmental improvements to the C St NE corridor. Results and recommendations from the study will be used to develop a preliminary design for the District’s first sustainable green street to efficiently and safely move people via foot, bicycle, transit and motor-vehicle. It is DDOT’s goal that this project be a community driven study that strives to attain an integrated infrastructure balancing the functions of mobility, safety, community connectivity, urban design and environmental sustainability.

The project will define means to improve safety for residents and school children, reduce storm water runoff and reduce traffic speeds. The findings and recommendations of the study will be reported back to the community for review and comment.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Sharee Lawler, with the The Hill is Home, has covered the ongoing C Street, NE project and has written another great post about the January 12, 2010 C Street NE Project public meeting (1st of 2 scheduled meetings). You can read the post here.

As always, thanks Sharee and The Hill is Home for the continued support!

6. Consider removing 18th Street intersection and signal to reduce spill-over traffic onto and through 18th Street and improve C Street traffic flow• Create a median-barrier similar to existing cross-street barriers (20th St, 18th Pl, 17th Pl, 16th St and 14th Pl)• Considering 17th St and 19th St will be reconverted to two-way streets, 18th Street residents will experience minimal access reduction• No cross-street to the south only Eliot-Hines access ramp• 18th Street extends only two blocks to the north

7. C Street & 17th Place - consider adding a new raised pedestrian crosswalk with cross-walk light• 17th Place is a major de-facto point where many students transit to/from Eliot-Hine JHS.

8. Keep some type of median barrier for all or most of C Street and North Carolina.• Determine what is the minimum size/width of a median for grass, shrubs and/or trees (i.e. vegetation) to thrive using two scenarios – a) natural - self-sustaining vegetation (only from rainfall and storm-water runoff) and b) artificial – supplemental watering from city, residents and/or others

1. Any right of way width captured by the removal of vehicular lanes should be used to create additional green-spaces (natural ground surfaces to support vegetation). • Most of the additional green space should be used to increase the width curb side tree –boxes instead of a wider median.• Adding green-space (enlarging tree-boxes) will increase distance between residences and vehicular traffic.• Residents are more likely to water and maintain green-spaces adjacent to their homes than the median.• This does not preclude having green “islands” or wider green medians in certain sections where it is required or needed as a traffic calming feature.

2. When presenting options regarding street profiles/cross-sections that include areas with vegetation, present only options that are realistic and sustainable given the area size/width, type of vegetation and watering. Include features that will make it easy for residents to voluntarily water and/or maintain green areas adjacent to their homes. Be explicit and realistic regarding who is expected to provide water and maintenance (i.e. nature, city, residents or others).

9. Streetscape elements (not necessarily profile) such as materials (textures, colors), signage, lighting, vegetation, etc. should be consistent and complementary along the C Street and North Carolina Ave corridor.• Unify neighborhoods• Connect neighborhoods to the Anacostia River

10. Reduce or even eliminate storm-water run-off discharge into the existing regional storm-water system• Capture and use any storm-water runoff to support the corridor streetscape vegetation

Thursday, January 21, 2010

After years of campaigning by residents, the District is beginning a study of C Street NE traffic.

The transportation and environmental study will be conducted on the C Street and North Carolina Avenue corridors from 21st to 15th streets, an area where residents say commuters have caused a traffic nightmare during morning and evening rush hours.

The study is expected to be completed in the spring and will be used to guide improvements, according to the study's project manager and Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commissioner (ANC 6A) Bill Schultheiss.Problems associated with C Street traffic include drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians and difficulty entering the street at stop signs due to the volume of cars, Schultheiss said.

"My residents are concerned with the volume that comes down the north and south streets," he said. "A lot of it is in the morning that is spillover from C Street traffic."

He said residents are concerned that “things are out of balance on that street."

The study's goals are to improve safety for residents and pedestrians, especially schoolchildren, by lowering vehicle speeds and building better crosswalks. Traffic engineers will likely develop a new traffic pattern with the goal of directing more efficiently and safely the movement of vehicles, public transit, bicycles and pedestrians, Schultheiss said. The study will also include recommendations to reduce storm-water runoff and to improve the tree canopy, he added.

Four designs will be produced to provide alternatives for improving C Street. The designs will be based on traffic counts and the wishes of the community, Schultheiss said. Over the next few months, residents will be able to give input on the designs at several public meetings.

Near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, C Street currently starts off as a five-lane road with three lanes inbound to Capitol Hill and two lanes outbound. Design alternatives could reduce the street by one, two or three lanes.

"We're going to analyze different lane configurations … and see what kind of effect that has on traffic and then what types of changes we can make to the street to make it more pedestrian-friendly and more environmentally friendly," Schultheiss said.

Schultheiss is a transportation engineer for Toole Design, which the Transportation Department hired to complete the study through a competitive-bid process. Toole has hired the SvR Design Co. of Seattle to develop environmentally friendly improvements for the area.

According to the Transportation Department, a survey crew has been working this week to gather data on right of ways, curbs, medians, utilities and vegetation. A traffic consultant is collecting information on the number of vehicles on the impacted streets and their speed levels. Parking in the study area will be restricted during the day through 4 p.m. on Friday.

Schultheiss said project cost estimates will be developed when the four designs are completed. Because the District already owns all the right of ways in the area, one of the largest costs associated with traffic improvement projects — acquiring land — is not a factor.

Schultheiss emphasized that the community will collaborate with the Transportation Department during the study.

"The most important part of the project is having this close dialogue with the community," he said. "We hope that they'll participate and be interested in this work."

More information and meetings times are available at cstreetne.blogspot.com

Disclosure: the above Voice of the Hill (VoTH) article was extracted in its entirety from the VoTH website

Project Overview: DDOT has begun a transportation and environmental study of the C Street and North Carolina Avenue corridor from 21st St. to 14th St., NE. The study is a result of community requests for safety and environmental improvements to the C St NE corridor. Results and recommendations from the study will be used to develop a preliminary design for the District’s first sustainable green street to efficiently and safely move people via foot, bicycle, transit and motor-vehicle. It is DDOT’s goal that this project be a community driven study that strives to attain an integrated infrastructure balancing the functions of mobility, safety, community connectivity, urban design and environmental sustainability.

The project will define means to improve safety for residents and school children, reduce storm water runoff and reduce traffic speeds. The findings and recommendations of the study will be reported back to the community for review and comment.